The Kokuryu-Kai, also known as the Black Dragon Society, was a hardline traditionalist group opposed to CoordinatorTheodore Kurita's reforms of the Draconis Combine. Their intent was to overthrow the government of Theodore Kurita and return the Combine back to the traditional ways that existed prior to the 3030s and Theodore's rise to power. The Black Dragons reached the height of their power during the late 3060s and early 3070s, plunging the Combine into a civil war before their eventual downfall. Crushed both on the battlefield and in the purges that followed, the Black Dragon Society survived and continued to influence Combine affairs into the next century.

The Kokuryu-Kai made several attacks against Theodore Kurita's authority during the 3050s, and even staged an assassination attempt on his birthday in 3058.[1] Prior to Operation Bulldog in 3059, three Kokuryu-Kai assassins also attacked Omiko Kurita and Victor Steiner-Davion, wounding the latter before they were all slain.[2] The Black Dragons continued to gain influence and support throughout the Combine as conservative citizens reacted with hostility to Theodore Kurita's policies, particularly his alliance with the Federated Commonwealth and the creation of the Irece Prefecture for Clan Nova Cat.[3]

In general the Black Dragons launched attacks on most worlds by gaining control of local militia forces and small mercenary units that fell outside the Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission. They were not above capitalizing on the confusion of the Jihad however, with Kokuryu-kai agents employing weapons of mass destruction on Philadelphia, Xinyang, and Luthien. The BDS then tried to blame the Word of Blake for these atrocities.[6]

The Black Dragon Society tended to focus attacks and infiltration efforts on the industrial arm of the Combine, meeting with particular success when infiltrating Luthien Armor Works; by the time the Jihad began the Kokuryu-kai were firmly entrenched in the heart of LAW, and this combined with the damage inflicted by the Word of Blake on the company left some of the largest facilities belonging to the premiere arms manufacturer of the Combine in ruins. Such was the level of Black Dragon infiltration into LAW that the Combine had to actively divert resources destined for the company into a range of other manufacturers - including new start-ups - because LAW simply couldn't be trusted, and while other manufacturers benefited from this increase in supply, the active distrust with which LAW was treated made it unlikely that it would receive any substantial degree of funding or support in rebuilding.[7]

Conversely, the Black Dragon Society made little effort to infiltrate the established training academies within Combine space.[8] Despite this, the ISF actively increased the screening of recruits into training facilities, and by the end of the Jihad the checks and investigations that students seeking entry to certain academies such as the Pagoda for Luthien Officers closely resembled the interrogations ISF personnel subjected captured Blakists to.[9]

On the 27th of January 3073 the Combine government executed a fresh purge against the Black Dragon Society, capturing a number of officials including at least some as highly placed as the Abbess of the Order of the Five Pillars.[10][11]

The chaos of the Jihad also worked against the Black Dragons. With HPG communications interrupted the only way they could coordinate their efforts was through face-to-face meetings and via courier. These methods were slow and prone to error.[6] As a result the ISF and O5P were able to infiltrate the organization and capture much of the Society's high-level leadership. This Misogi War, as the purification effort is known, has taken security teams from both agencies to nearly every world of the Draconis Combine. Even with these efforts, it is likely that the Black Dragon Society will return in the future.[12]

Forces from the Kokuryu-kai tried to raid the Federated Suns border world of Bryceland for supplies on the 4th of June 3075. The raid was unsuccessful, as the commander of the AFFS forces on Bryceland ordered that the demolition charges in the underground bunkers storing the supplies be detonated, rather than allowing the Black Dragon forces to seize them.[20][21]

The Black Dragon Society met with some success acting in the Pesht Military District of the Draconis Combine; in November 3077 a large cell seized oil fields and refineries on Qandahar, claiming to have defeated the local ISF forces in the process.[22] The Black Dragon Society action on Qandahar also damaged the the important industrial city of Mistiq on the Cordell continent, damaging the Dow-Nexus Fusion Products plant there, which was still attempting to complete repairs to the damage inflicted on the plant when Blakist attackers breached the city dome in 3071.[23]

This was followed on the 19th of December by the government on Slaithwaite publicly declaring in favour of the Kokoryu-kai, while other large Society cells rose up across the Qandahar Prefecture on the worlds of Ad Duwayd, Kamarod, Korramabad, Nowhere and Pusht-i-rud. The cell on Korramabad called for the deportation of the local Azami minority population, and despite an ISF covert operation in late December that decapitated the cell's leadership, on the 31st of December the cell executed more than 450,000 Azami.[22]

Both the Combine and the Azami Brotherhood reacted swiftly to news of the massacre on Korramabad; the DCMS dispatched the 2nd An Ting Legion to restore Combine control over the world, while the Brotherhood dispatched the 1st Arkab Legion. The 2nd An Ting arrived first and Combine authority over Korramabad by late March, after a month of martial law implemented due to another wave of assassinations on the world. The 1st Arkab Legion arrived just two days after order was restored; the two units combined forces with the 10th Pesht Regulars to plan and mount an operation against the world of Slaithwaite, which began on the 30th of March 3078 and was complete by the 15th of April. During the Slaithwaite operation almost 300 Black Dragon Society leaders and sympathizers were executed.[22]

Even as Combine and Azami forces assaulted Slaithwaite, the Black Dragon Society lost control of Qandahar to the Combine when a covert operation eliminated the key leaders of the Society present on the world on the 9th of April.[24]

Despite the best efforts of the ISF and O5P, the Black Dragon Society remained active into the thirty-second century. They were known to be active on Awano, and the Ryuken-go was used to ferret them out.[25] The DCMS purge of Black Dragon sympathizers resulted in the dissolution of two New Samarkand Regulars units.
[26] During the Second Combine-Dominion War the Black Dragons also exacerbated tensions between the Combine and Clan Nova Cat; Ultimately these tensions would lead to the Cat's destruction.[27]

In 3089, the Society triggered a hidden war between the Combine and the Republic of the Sphere by attacking former Combine held worlds that had joined the Republic of the Sphere. The conflict, simply known as the "Hidden War", was designed by The Black Dragons to destabilize the leadership of Luthien. The conflict would continue until 3093, where RAF and DCMS forces joined forces once they realized who was behind the conflict. The joint effort lead to an assault on the Society's stronghold on Shimonita led by Kitsune Kurita. During the Al Na'ir campaign , Kitsune's performance in the conflict would inspire an offer of Knighthood from the Republic. It was Kitsune's acceptance of the award which would be the death-blow to the Society's plans. His condition of accepting Knighthood was that his "real" father, Victor Steiner-Davion would be the one to knight him. The society had planned for Kitsune Kurita to act as a replacement for Coordinator Hohiro Kurita. Many of its membership would commit seppuku due to the realization they were backing a son of Davion. Dispirited, the Society would continue on after being defeated on Shimonita.[28]

The Black Dragon ruling council used code-names that were similar to Council of Gem code-names. A similar system was also used by the Rasalhague resistance movement that attempted to assassinate Takashi Kurita in 3019. Hassid Ricol was part of that conspiracy, and also went by the name "Ruby". It may be possible it was his idea to adopt those names for the Black Dragons.[34]